Blog » Japanify

A step-by-step recipe to making your own amazake, sweet sake, at home.

Step-by-step instructions on making Japanese sesame sauce, or gomadare. This sauce is ideal for shabu shabu, stirfrys, and as a dip for steamed vegetables.

Last week, I shared a bowl of nishin soba with you, and I asked you to not to throw out the egg and sperm sacs. I have two recipes that will have you wondering why people would ever throw them...

A gleaming school of herring greeted me upon my arrival on U.S. shores yesterday. After landing from Tokyo, my first errand after dropping off my bags at home was a visit to my local fish monger (Monterey Fish Market). Winter...

Taking half an hour out of my schedule to slow down and warm up has been possible these past few weeks thanks to this simple soup. The arrival of matsutake mushrooms is here and I couldn't be more excited. This year...

For some, winter may mean honey-baked hams and Santa Claus. But at my house, it means nimono. Nimono simply means "simmered things" in Japanese. You can pretty much simmer anything, but the simmering liquid is usually a combination of dashi,...

Although I have embraced the fact that I have now crossed-over into 30-somethingdom, my diet has not caught up. With age, my body is clearly not as forgiving when I've had a few too many glasses of wine. The idea of...

When the persimmons and matsutake start populating the markets in Japan, so do the sanma (Pacific Saury). They are so abundant, they are practically giving them out for free. For less than 100yen per fish, it's the most economical choice to...

I am posting a recipe for negitoro donburi for the pure fact that this is the most delicious thing to make in under 5 minutes if you have cooked rice on hand. If your fish monger sells toro pieces for...

The other day, Washi and I went to Uniqlo thinking we could just casually stroll in two days after its opening. First reality check: there was a line winding two blocks down the building. So we went to some other shops. Second...

Whenever I go see my 92 year-old grandma and have a conversation over tea, she drops all kinds of wisdom bombs on me. And she does it so casually, I never really notice the impact her words have on me until I...

Myoga madness continues as I experiment with the harvest from my sister's myoga plant. Last week, I topped raw myoga on tofu. This week, I make a stir fry with myoga and slices of pork shoulder. I am very inexperienced with...

My sister has a giant myoga plant that is thriving in a shady spot by her chicken coup coop. Powerful myoga buds started busting through the styrofoam container walls a few weeks ago. The plant was inherited from someone who could...

I've been really into harusame (bean thread noodles) ever since my grandma sent me home with some two years ago. With a quick soak in some warm water, these noodles are ready to be fried or boiled, depending on what kind...

After a whole summer of non-stop sunshine, fruit smoothies and ice-cold Franzia boxed wine (that was actually only for a day, sadly...), I'm really looking forward to the comforting food of autumn. I am not complaining though. I am a huge fan...

My partner Washi recently got a job as a salaryman. This may not seem that odd until you consider the fact that he is living in Berkeley, California and to qualify as a salaryman, you are usually employed by a Japanese corporation....

Protein is a great thing to carry around. It stays together and packs an energy-filled punch, in comparison to a salad or veggie stir-fry --which can either take up lots of space or taste very bad because of a temperature change. Hunks of hamburg or...

There was an egg festival in my bowl of rice the other day. I placed a raw egg yolk on a mound of ikura (salmon roe) on top of my steaming hot bowl of rice. The orange hues are sexy and appetizing, glimmering in my...

On paper, nagaimo sounds like a miracle food. Nagaimo is a type of yam with hardly any calories, while simultaneously lowering blood pressure and cholesterol. It's also full of potassium and fiber and ideal for the diet of a diabetic. And that list doesn't even include its...

Karasumi (or bottarga) is salted and dried mullet roe. It comes in two sacks and are hard, like a candy bar. Its deep, oceany, salty flavor is reminiscent of caviar. But the texture is not like caviar, because it's a dense mass of eggs dried...